4.8L Tahoe LS 4WD - MPG

[TonyMazz]

While the EPA says 15 -to- 19 I am expecting 16 overall as I drive 70% highway 30% city with a commute of 37 miles each way to work.....

 

I love the ride, comfort etc..just wondering what I can expect....witht he smaller motor.

 

 

Thanks for your help...

 

Tony

[USA1Fan]

With that much highway driving I'd expect you to be on the higher end of the range rather than the lower. But a lot depends on how much stop and go in city traffic, average speeds, how you like to accelerate, etc. As far as the engine size goes everything I've seen seems to have the 4.8 and 5.3 roughly the same for fuel efficiency.

[Dustin07]

With that much highway driving I'd expect you to be on the higher end of the range rather than the lower.  But a lot depends on how much stop and go in city traffic, average speeds, how you like to accelerate, etc.  As far as the engine size goes everything I've seen seems to have the 4.8 and 5.3 roughly the same for fuel efficiency.

 

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I have a 4.8L in my 2wd ext cab silverado. now given, there are some small differences here. i drive probably the same percentages as you, hwy vs city, and have a canopy on back plus use it for making deliveries. often with 500-1000lbs in the bed. so i'm guess that other than the 2wd part we are pretty similar...

 

long story short, i get 18+. up to 23 on those days where it's all hwy. I have got under 18, even 16.9/mpg before, but only when i was really playing with the throttle. typically i tell people 18-20 tho in my rig.

[GnatGoSplat]

You're lucky, my truck only got 14.89mpg last tank. I think that's pretty typical for me. Mixed city & highway. 4x4 ext cab with 4.8L.

[denalitwin]

My 2004 Denali (6.0) 12-14 city / 15-18 hwy & my 2003 Z71 Tahoe (5.3) 11-13 city / 15-18 .hwy....same rear gears & tire size, both driven same way, same gas,.....that is why is just depends

 

The Tahoe gets about what I expected....the Denali is much better, that I expected

 

I would expect the 4.8 to get a gal or 2 better than a 5.3

[TonyMazz]

Well so far my 04' 4.8L 3.73 gearing has proven to deliver 18.34 and 18.16 MPG on the first 2 tank fulls. I now have about 700+ miles on it and these are 80% Hiway and 20% city.

 

I have been treating it real easy so far (i.e. 55mph tops) and now driving the speed limit (i.e. 65). ...

 

So far so good.....

[allenmehrer]

Thats the combo, the 4.8l matched with the 3.73 rear. I have that in my single cab truck and I coudn't get under 18 mpg if I tried.

I've got duel flows, K&N, and synthetic mobil 1 which help my numbers out a little.

[GnatGoSplat]

Hmmm, something must be wrong with my truck. It has the 3.73 rear and I can't get above 16mpg if I tried.

[allenmehrer]

Looks like you're truck as rims, 20's at that. I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. Plus its an extended cab which is just more stress on that motor.

 

I'll be putting on some 20's from my buddies truck to see if I like them. When I do i'll reply back on here with my mpg lose.

[GnatGoSplat]

I never really got much better than 16mpg even with the factory chrome 16's (the steel ones) and 265/75R16 tires.

[bob1527]

I never really got much better than 16mpg even with the factory chrome 16's (the steel ones) and 265/75R16 tires.

 

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i get about a tad less than 14 city and 16ish highway. (on the highway im usually averaging 85 mph so im pretty sure thats takes away some mileage)

 

when i first bought my truck (used in january of this year) i got something like 9.4 mpg!! and thought i bought myself a problem truck. after spending $100 on gas the first week of having the truck, i took a peek under the hood and noticed the pcv valve wasnt plugged into the valve cover. it looked pretty dirty so i bought a new one (somthing like $3), plugged it in and just like that i was up almost 5 mpg. the truck might have been a tad faster with the pcv unplugged, but screw that, 5 mpg and a cleaner engine...